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| syn·thet·ic [ sin théttik ] |
adjective |
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| Definition: |
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1. made by chemical process: made artificially by chemical synthesis, especially so as to resemble a natural product
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2. insincere: not genuine, especially expressed but not genuinely felt
 synthetic expressions of sympathy
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3. philosophy with truth depending on facts: describes a proposition whose truth or falsity is a matter of facts and not merely a matter of the meaning of the words in the sentence
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4. linguistics using inflections to express syntax: describes a language that expresses syntactic relationships by means of inflections rather than word order or prepositions and other function words
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noun (plural syn·thet·ics) |
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| Definition: |
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1. chemically produced substance or material: a substance or material produced by chemical processes and not occurring naturally
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2. artificial fiber: a synthetic textile fiber, or an item of clothing made of this
(
usually used in the plural
)
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| [Late 17th century. Via French or modern Latin< Greek sunthetikos "component" < sunthetos "combined" < suntithenai (see synthesis)] |
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 syn·thet·i·cal adjective |
 syn·thet·i·cal·ly adverb |
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